Double or nothing
by Mac Gustah
Summary: In a fief located on the south western shore of Araluen, named Old Rock, twins are born. 15 years later they come across the fief's ranger. You can guess what happens next ;) This is my first ever fanfic, constructive criticism is appreciated. Disclaimer: I do not own RA
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice (wish I did though), I only own Old Rock and it's inhabitants.**

**Something else by the way, the first 4 chapters were written on wordpad, and the spelling may be off. Also, my writing improves the further you get into the story. (this comment was added later)**

* * *

~Prologue~

As night fell upon a small coastal village, the screams got worse and worse. A worried man paced up and down the small hallway leading to the room the screams were coming from. The door opened , an old woman sticking her head trough the opening. "It's a twin" she said, inviting the newfound father into the room.  
He walked up to his wife , holding the two small crying bundles. "What do you want to name them?" "How about Emma and Justin?" she said with a tired smile.

* * *

~Chapter 1~

The ranger of Old Rock fief rode down a small dirt track. He was patrolling around the area to make sure he knew about everything going on as there had been rumors of a group of bandits robbing unsuspecting travelers.

His cowl pulled far forward, hiding his face in shadows, concealing his eyes which where scanning his surroundings.

Suddenly his horse let out a short whinny to alert him someone was closing in on his position. His hand reaching for one of the white arrows in the quiver on his back.

Then he saw them, two teens, a boy and a girl, about fifteen years old chasing each other around. The children didn't spot him until they where ten meters away from him. Their laughter fell silent as they saw the figure in the grey green cloak.

He pulled his cowl back and a pair of grey eyes appeared, a small smile on his bearded face.

Suddenly the girl said angrily to the boy "I told you we shouldn't have gone so far away from the village!"

"How is it my fault?! You ran blindly into the forest!"

"You were chasing me!"

"Only because you ran away!" who knows what will happen now, you know rangers are dark magicians, he might turn us into rabbits or something!"

The girl now looked at the ranger with a face full of fear, but unable to move.

"Ho ho, wait a second, I'm not a black magician." The ranger replied. "And I'm not going to hurt you." The two kids now looked less scared, but still weren't totally convinced.

"so, where do you live?" he continued.

"we're from…" the boy started.

"…Chelez." the girl said, finishing his sentence.

"Our parents…"

"…are famers, we actually live…"

"… on the outskirts…"

"…of the village.

The ranger was starting to feel dizzy. "STOP DOING THAT!" he eventually shouted at the kids.

"What are…"

"…we doing?"

"You keep finishing each other's sentences," the ranger replied " it's giving me a head ache."

"Sorry sir, we don't mean to, it just kind of happens sometimes," Our parents say it's because we're twins." The boy said

Then the ranger spotted the similarities between the two, in appearance and body language, the same blonde hair, the same curious glance in their dark blue eyes "Done watching?" the twins said at exactly the same time, apparently over the first shock of seeing the strange man.

He only raised an eyebrow. "How about I escort you back home." he said on a tone that suggested it really meant " I will bring you to your home, if you want it or not."

the girl breathed in, trying to protest. But before she could say anything the boy answered," that would be great, thank you." sending an expression of warning his sisters way.

Ten minutes later the girl suddenly said: "I'm sorry but I didn't quite hear what your name was when we met you."

"That would be because I didn't tell you." He dryly replied. "What is your name?" the boy asked. "Fine, my name is Edward." "And your last name?" the girl asked. A grim expression suddenly appeared on Edward's face and he said nothing in return. "Surely you have a last name, everybody has one." The girl said, unaware of the ranger's change of expression.

They rode on in silence of about five minutes until the bearded man started talking: "I don't know my last name, I was found by a ranger and his apprentice when I was two years old. My parents where killed by Scotti raiders, the raiders sliced their throats and left me to die in the snow. That is when the rangers found me. I was taken to the ward at Norgate fief, that is why I don't have a last name." when the children looked up at the ranger they where shocked to see his eyes watering in the shadow of his cowl.

The boy sent an accusing glare at his sister. Edward sighed, "It's okay, you couldn't have known. What are your names?" "Emma and Justin Metfort." they simultaneously replied. After another hour Edward suddenly looked up "Smoke" he whispered, and galloped away with the two children in front an behind him on the horse.

The next thing they heard were screams. The small horse stormed out from the trees and on the other side of a large wheat field they saw a burning house. a man laid on his back, a crossbow bolt sticking out from his chest.

Three men came out of a small barn, leading a cow towards five other men holding a screaming woman, one of the men hit her and the screaming stopped.

Suddenly the twins saw three of them drop to the ground, white shafted arrows sticking from their chest, none of them knowing what had killed them.

Edward shouted "Queen's Ranger! Throw your weapons on the ground!" they didn't. The bandits started to walk towards the ranger.

Edward shot another arrow but they were already to close. He drew his saxe and throwing knife and looked in astonishment as four of them fell into the dirt, a second later his throwing knife landed in the last bandit's neck. He looked around to see what had killed the other four and spotted Emma and Justin, both holding a slinger.

The two ran towards the two figures laying in the grass and when they reached the man, they cried "DAD!". He wasn't moving. Edward waked over to the woman, bleeding from a wound in her side and blood seeping out of the wound on her temple. He put his fingers in her wrist but couldn't feel a heartbeat. The twins looked at him with tears in their eyes. He shook his head, not able to look them directly in the eyes.

They wheeped silently over their mother and father. Edward stood up, leaving them alone whith their grief for a while.

When he came back a quarter of an hour later they buried the bodies in silence. The devastated children looked at the ranger as to what to do. "I can take you to Old Rock castle, I bet baron Algruff can find you two a place to stay." They nodded slowly. "I will take you to the castle, but after that i will travel to Araluen."

"Why are you going there?" the girl asked.

"Ranger business." he replied, indicating that he would say no more about it.


	2. Chapter 2

~Chapter 2~

The sight of the castle was breathtaking, as soon as the it came into view Eward held his horse for a bit.

Large walls stood steadily on top of a huge stone hill, tall towers watched over the surrounding land and an even bigger tower placed in the west corner of the vast castle, reached into the sky.

Men patrolled the wall, their armor glistening in the late afternoon sun.

When they reached the castle they saw The sigil of Old Rock and baron Algruff Tulling on the walls and surcoats of the guards, Orange and blue, split diagonally from the upper left to the lower right by a white line. on some of the banners the baron's personal sigil was displayed, a white bear on a midnight blue surface.

Spotting the ranger, the guards immediately stepped aside to let them through. A man about the same age as Edward walked up to them shouting "ED! good to see you!"

The bearded ranger turned towards Emma and Justin "Emma, Justin, this is Jonathan, he is the captain of the guard here is a good childhood friend of mine."

The twins just looked at Jonathan as he walked towards them. "JON! How are you!" Edward shouted even though Jonathan was only three meters away from them.

"And, who are your companions?" Jon asked, pointing at Emma and Justin.

"I'm Emma and that's Justin, we're..."

"...from Chelez Village, our..."

"...parents were murdered..."

"...by bandits two days ago."

Their eyes starting to water at the last thing they said. Jonathan looked worriedly at his childhood friend and whispered "Do they always do that?" "Sometimes" he whispered back with grim expression on his face.

"Could you take them to the baron and make sure they have food and a place to sleep Jon?" His friend nodded and gestured the twins to follow him to the main tower.

He mounted his small dark grey horse and rode towards Castle Araluen.

* * *

_=four days later=_

He stood in front of the ranger commandant's office, marked by a small oak leaf engraved in the door. He knocked. A voice from within the office told him to come in.

Edward saw Gilan sitting behind a desk stacked with letters, reports and other documents. He had a tired look in his eyes but they lit up as soon as he saw Edward, happy to see one of the other rangers.

"Edward! I haven't seen you since the gathering" when he saw the uncomfortable look on Edwards face he raise an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

"I need to ask you something, I have discovered potential ranger material in Old Rock"

"Aren't you a little young for an apprentice? You've only been a ranger for five years."

"I know that Gilan, but I really think I can handle it."

"Alright then Ed, what is his or her name?" Edward answered: "Emma and Justin Metford."

Gilan looked confused, "Wait, what?!" he almost shouted.

"You heard me Gilan, I want to take them as my apprentices."

"B-but that's never happened before!"

"Neither did the corps take in girls as apprentices until ranger Maddie.

"But you're only twenty-six!" Gilan was practically shouting now because of the shock.

"So what?"

"You're inexperienced!"

"I became experienced after the mission to Toscana and you know that." he said calmly, but with a clear sting and coldness in his voice.

Gilan calmed down, regret heavily on his voice. "I'm sorry Ed, I shouldn't have shouted."

"It's okay." the younger ranger replied.

"You can take them as your apprentices." Gilan said after a couple of seconds of silence. Edward let of a small smile, bowing his head a little. "I won't disappoint you."

"I know you won't Edward."

As Gilan wrote the letter of his aproval of the twins into the ranger corps he looked up to see a large grin on Edwards face. the last time he had seen Edward smile like that was when he was sent on the mission with Ann to Toscana, a girl in the corps whom he 'liked'. The same mission that had whiped that same smile off his face ever since, as he was the only one to return from it.

* * *

**Short chapter, I'm not entirely satisfie with it and am in the process of rewriting it a bit so it will be easyer to read, sorry. Thanks for reading. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Here you go, a new chapter.**

**I would like to thank TrustTheCloak, elvishrangerwolf and Some-guest-I-don't-know-the-name-of for reviewing.**

**A/N I am in the middle of an exam week, I just went through 2 100 minute tests in 1 day, bot were about 3 chapters (so it basically took up my entire weekend). But no worries, after this week i have 2 weeks of vacation to write and do absolutely nothing exept for laying in bed. Also I'm already buissy with the next chapter.**

* * *

~Chapter 3~

Jon had brought her and her brother to the baron, a man with short grey hair and a beard of the same color. When he started talking, it was on a reassuring tone. He looked like a warrior, there were scars on his face and hands. One of which cut through his right eyebrow.

Kind brown eyes looked at them. "And what should we do with you two?" he said. Emma and Justin had lived on a farm for their entire life and didn't really know how to address a man of his rank. So they just kept quiet, not knowing what to do.

The baron looked at them, as if he was expecting something from them. Suddenly the realization came they had been staring at him in silence.

"what are your names?" The baron asked politely, already informed by Jonathan but hoping that the teens would answer his question.

"Emma and..."

"Justin." the boy said, cutting his sister off.

"Well Emma and Justin, I believe we have room in the castle's ward for two more.", diverting the question to his secretary Ethan. "Yes my lord." ,his secretary answered.

Emma immediately disliked the man, for when he had spoken he looked at the twins in a patronizing way.

And so it was that they had been brought to the ward, given new clothing and fed. The rooms weren't big, but bigger than their room's at the farm.

_The farm... mom and dad...why did they have to die?_ Emma thought, she nearly started crying. It was like this almost every night, nightmares of the bandits holding her mother, her father on the ground, not moving with a pool of blood coloring the grass around him crimson. She couldn't move in the dreams, she couldn't run away from the bandits coming at her. She woke up and cried herself back to sleep.

Emma could tell from the bags under his eyes and the red outline around them that Justin was experiencing the exact same thing, although they never talked about it.

She made good friends with the daughter of the innkeeper, Sarah. She was one of the few people to act normal around her and Justin, almost everybody else pitied them.

Sarah had hazel brown hair that fell down to her hips. Cheery brown eyes lay in her sockets.

They were making small talk when they heard a horse walking on the wooden drawbridge, and moments later on the cobbles that made op the paving of the large courtyard.

They saw the rider dismount and walk with his horse towards the stables, undoubtedly to take care of it after a long trip, as they were covered in dust and dirt.

Suddenly she recognized the rider as Edward

Emma ran toward her brother, grabbed his arm and started to pull him behid her.

"What in Araluen's name are you doing Em?"

"We're going to say hi to Edward!"

"You could have just told me ."

"And where's the fun in that?"

Justin realized that Sarah was standing behind his sister and he started stuttering, "Oh, h-hey s-Sarah." his face was slowly turning red, the same happened to her friend. "h-hey Justin" Emma couldn't hold in a chuckle, earning a glare from both Sarah and Justin.

It was very obvious they liked each other, every time she'd ask either her brother or Sarah, they tried to evade the question or change the subject. If that didn't work, which it usually didn't because if Emma wanted to know something, she would go on until she found out.

At that point the "love birds" , as she called them would turn as red as a strawberry.

Edward came walking out of the stables and Emma almost ran straight at him, but Justin stopped her when he saw a guard running towards Edward holding a sealed envelope bearing a dark green seal. "Sir ranger, a letter arrived for you!"

the twins hid behind a couple of barrels next to one of the towers, only fifteen meters away from the ranger and guard, just close enough to hear the guard continue on a hushed voice. "It's about the twins you brought here sir." He handed over the letter.

Edward opened it and suddenly a worried expression appeared on his face. "I'll have to go, i need to be sure. If anyone needs me, i'll be around my cabin." he returned to the stables.

The twins looked at each other. "what was that about?" Sarah asked. "We don't know, But it can't be good." they said as if they read each other's minds. "We have to know what's in the letter Justin." her brother nodded. "I know, and I have the feeling he's not just going tell us."

* * *

Emma looked at Justin, a stone in his hand. ready to throw at the bush to the rangers right. She nodded and her brother threw the small rock as hard as he could into the bush.

Edward stopped his horse, looking to his right from where the sound came from. He dismounted and walked into the forest.

the twins were relieved to see that their plan had worked and quickly crept towards the horse and opened the saddlebag they had seen Edward put the letter in.

Emma reached into the bag, grabbing the envelope and ready to open it when suddenly they were both grabbed by the forearm. Emma let out a shriek and Justin yelled a curse.

"And what do you two think you're doing?" a cold voice said from behind them.

They tried to look who it was, but he had twisted their arms in such manner they couldn't look back. But it was pretty clear who it was.

"Edward!.. uhm we were just..."

"I know what you were doing, and since you two went through so much trouble to read the letter, I may as well let you."

Their eyes widened in surprise. "Don't just stand there, open it." Edward said. Emma broke the dark green seal, still not sure if the ranger was tricking them. Although he sounded genuine, you can never know for sure with rangers.

Justin stepped over to her side to read the letter with his sister. when it opened they both froze in surprise.

_It is believed that Emma Metford and Justin Metford poses a certain skillset fit for an apprenticeship at the Queen's Rangers.  
I hereby accept Ranger Edward's request to take them as his apprentices._

_Gilan, Ranger Commandant_

Edward, apparently now their new mentor, started talking "Go back to the ward, gather your belongings and say bye to your friends. I expect you to be at my cabin at eight in the morning."

* * *

**Thank you for following this story so far, **

**Best regards, Mac Gustah. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again, I know I know, I told you I am having a very heavy week. But since this chapter was almost finished, I decided to take some time to relax by writing this for you guys.**

**P.S. The following chapters will probably come alot slower, as I had written Chapter 1 to 3 already in advance and all I had to do was polish them up a bit.**

**Also I wish to thank another-guest-I-don't-know-the-name-of, for telling me to describe environments , buildings places yada yada yada. I tried to do so this chapter.**

**Another P.S. Somehow _Family Guy _and a drawing I made really inspred me for a new chapter (I don't know if it will be the next one).**

**I've been rambling long enough now. Enjoy.**

* * *

~Chapter 4~

Justin and his sister stood on the porch of the little cabin hidden in Old Rock's deep forest. He raised his hand to knock, but before he could the door swung open to reveal Edward , wearing a brown tunic and simple leather pants. A thick beard concealed most of his face and his hair was short cut and dark brown, almost black.

They hadn't seen him without his cloak and he was actually pretty short, but then again, so where they.

The smell of eggs, bacon and coffee came from within the cabin. A couple of breadcrumbs were stuck in his mustache, whitch indicated that he had been eating his breakfast when they arrived at the cabin.

It wasn't large, not at all. As they looked around she saw that exept for the bedrooms, the cabin was made up of one room, whith a table and a couple of chairs around it paced near a corner wich seemed to be functioning as a kitchen. Some more comfertable chairs stood in a half-circle around a small fireplace and an old rug lay in the middle of the room, colors faded from extencive usage.

"Are you two done staring?" he asked.

They suddenly sprang into action and entered the small cabin.

"So... What do rangers do? "Emma, being her always curious self, asked.

"Rangers Gather intelligence, patrol fiefs and keep them safe. Apprentices though... that's a whole other story." he said, the small smirk on his lips almost unnoticeable.

"Then what do apprentices do?" Justin asked.

The tiney smirk on Edward's face widened into a friendly smile, Justin had fallen into his trap, but Emma could see no kindness in his eyes when he started speaking. "What apprentices do, is dishes, sweeping, cutting wood, cleaning the house, getting water..." he went of for another full minute before he ended his list. "You will also be taught how to shoot a bow, throw knives, hand to hand combat and to move unseen."

"Also, you will be cooking. I trust you know how to?"

Emma nodded, but Justin stayed silent. "Well I guess we're going to have to teach you then won't we.", Aiming his question at Justin. He nodded, still too in shock by the long list Edward had summed up to speak.

Edward looked down and his eyebrows drew together into a deep frown. "Oh no, we're going to have to do something about this floor." he looked at Justin "Will you grab the broom and start sweeping please?" Emma smirked, immediately realizing her mistake when The bearded ranger looked at her. "We should get some water from the stream, we wouldn't be able to cook without it now would we?" The small girl shook her head, the smirk wiped from her face.

After a day of chores the newfound apprentices, or recruits, as they weren't actually apprentices yet, found out that if Edward said "we" he usually meant "you".

Their mentor sat in a leather armchair reading through some documents as Emma was showing Justin how to cook, telling Edward that he would even burn a salad if not helped.

Edward looked through the documents that baron Tulling had sent him, putting one particular ,about a strange ship that had been seen in the western seas, in a separate leather map.

"Edward! Food's done."

He put the document aside and sat down at the table for dinner.

* * *

She heard a knock on the door, and a gruff voice "Emma it's time to wake up now!" More knocking. she heard someone swearing as he walked away, Emma turned in her bed and closed her eyes again. Waking up wasn't something she was going to take lightly, she hadn't slept well since their arrival in the ward and this was the first time in months she hadn't had nightmares

Suddenly the door opened and a stream of cold water poured over her head, waking her in an instant. Gasping for air and out of shock she looked for the person that had poured the freezing cold water over her head, she saw Edward beside her bed, holding an empty bucket. Justin was standing right behind him and was failing to hold back his laughter.

"get dressed and meet us outside." with that he and her brother left the room.

When she was finally dressed she stepped outside to see Justin sitting on the grass while Edward was getting his horse.

When he came back he started to list the daily tasks, beginning with "First lets warm up our muscles." With "we" he obviously meant "you" ,because he was mounting his horse.

"Won't you be running?" Justin asked

"I know what shape I'm in, I just need to know yours"

They ran for nearly an hour at a steady trot. The twins were used to running a lot, and didn't tire fast.

When thy reentered the clearing they sat down on the grass waiting for Edward to finish taking care of his horse, and when he came out of the stables he was carrying a bag.

"These will be the weapons you two will be training with for the next five years."

He took out two bows, two slingers, two strange scabbards and a bunch of grey feathered arrows divided into two quivers.

_A ranger carries twenty-four lives in his quiver. _And indeed, Emma counted twenty-four arrows in each quiver.

What was most interesting about the bows was that they weren't the usual longbows, but the ends were twisted back.

"These are recruve bows, they require less strength to pull back but don't have the range of a longbow, you will get a longbow when you have built up more muscle and can pull it all the way "

Justin went straight for the bow, looking at Edward who pointed at a target about twenty-five meters to their right. "If you think you're ready, go ahead."

Justin raised the strange bow, nocked an arrow and pulled the string back as far as he could, almost reaching his nose. He aimed for the hay target and let go of the string. The arrow flew away, followed by a scream and a flow of curses. Justin dropped the bow and reached to his forearm, which was slowly turning red.

Her brother glared at Edward, who just stood there with a small smile on his face, seemingly not bothered by it at all. "I think in your haste, you forgot these."

Edward reached into the bag and pulled two bracers out.

"Why didn't you give me those before?"

"I would have, but you didn't give me the chance. Remember. Patience is a virtue."

After they had both put the bracers on, Justin shot again, and with corrections from Edward he nearly hit the target he was fireing at, but not quite.

Emma had the privilage of not being the first to shoot and tried to follow the instructions their mentor had given her brother.

She nocked an arrow, pulled back as far as she could and let go of the string.

The arrow flew across the clearing and hit a mere ten centimeters from the bullseye.

"How did you do that?" Edward said admireingly.

"Ehm... Ed?"

"Yes?"

"I was aiming for the other target."

* * *

**The following things help me write this story: constructive criticism, Two steps from hell, lindsey stirling and everyone that has taken the time to read this.**

**Mac Gustah**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for not updating sooner, but with all the Christmas celebrations I didn't have alot of time to write due to sickness the first couple of days, Christmas the rest of last week, and distractions (Netflix). Blso Ive been writing a fanfic for Inheritance Cycle and I can tell you, that is alot different from RA, but do not worry, I won't abandon this story. This chapter was quite difficult to write (I re-wrote the ending like 5 times or something) so I hope you like it.**

**P.S. It might be a little late, but Merry Christmas!**

~Chapter 5~

_[One month later]_

"Edward, can I ask you something?"

"You already did Justin."

"Oh… Yeah I guess so… But can we have this weekend off?"

"Yes, I reckon you two deserve some free time. I have to be at the castle anyway."

"ThankyouEdward!" Justin shouted while running to the door, knocking several chairs and a bucket of water over in the process. He could hear Edward's swearing, even when he closed the door.

When he saw Emma shooting at the hay targets that were placed down randomly by Edward each day, he felt a wave of pride towards his sister, for she had been practicing mercilessly for the last month.

"_How did you do that" Edward said admiringly  
_"_Ehm… Ed?"  
_"_Yes?"  
_"_I was aiming for the other target."_

She was not as good at shooting as Justin was, but she made up for that with her skill at unseen movement and tracking.

"EMMA! EDWARD SAID WE COULD HAVE THE WEEKEND OFF" he shouted from the other side of the clearing.

"REALLY?! THAT'S GREAT!" she shouted back.

* * *

Justin stood in front of her and she decided to pester him a bit. "So I guess you'll be going to Ibdeles this afternoon, I bet Sarah will be glad to see you." Emma said with a big grin on her face.

Justin instantly turned slightly red and shot her a glare. "Yes, I am going to the village, but not for that reason." Although he definitely hoped to run into her, but he would never admit it. definitely not to his little sister, albeit she was born only five minutes later she still was. "I'm going to the cobblers to get some special boots made and maybe see if I can startle some of the guards walking around there."

"What's wrong with your current boots?" Emma asked.

"Nothing, but the ones I will have made will have a sheath for a knife in them."

"Smart," she said, "I might just get some myself."

Her brother stood up from the table they were eating their breakfast at, threw his cloak around his shoulders and grabbed his bow and quiver. "Bye Em! I'll be back before sundown."

And with that he left for Ibdeles village.

* * *

It truely a beautiful view. The bustling village down in the green valley, a calm river flowing right through the middle, smoke coming from the stone chimneys, the sound of a hammer hitting metal echoing through the valley as the blacksmith was doing his job. Green Ivy grew on the sides of the many stone buildings and over the thatch and sometimes tiled roofs.

The cobblers store was a small stone building near the edge of town. A brightly coloured sign hung over the door saying in bright orange letters: Jeremy's Shoes, sandals and boots.

The shopkeeper was a very skinny man with brown eyes that and light brown hair that fell just over his ears.

"Ah! A customer! And a ranger nonetheless." The man said with a big smile on his lips "What can I do for you young man?"

"I would like to order some boots withe sheath to put a knife like this in?" he showed the throwing knife to the cobbler.

"Ahh I see. I don't just have those laying around but I can make them for you, I'll just have to measure your foot and 't will be done by tomorrow. It's not cheap though." Jeremy said.

"How much is it ? I don't have alot of money, but I can work to pay for them." the young ranger offered, it meant that he has a good excuse to go to the village more often without his sister constantly teasing him about Sarah.

"It will cost one gold coin," At that Justin's eyebrows shot up. ", but I guess I can let you have them for fifty silver coins." the man finished and stepped out from behind the dark wooden counter to measure his customer's feet.

While the shopkeeper was busy with his feet, Justin looked at his surroundings. He was sitting on a sturdy bench and shelves full of boots, shoes and even two pairs of Toscan sandals stood against the walls, a small worn dark wood counter was placed a meter or so in front a door that presumably lead to the workshop.

"Alright, that should be it, you can come pick your boots up tomorrow." The shopkeeper spoke while getting up from his crouching position at the teen's feet.

"Thank you very much sir."

"You're welcome boy, don't forget to come to work though." He said with a wink.

* * *

Sarah was leaning against one of the many tall trees that grew within the village. She had a day off from work at the tavern, and decided that the best way to spend it was by doing as little as possible.

Her thoughts went to Emma. She hadn't seen her in a month, except from the rare occasions that either she or her brother had to go get something for ranger Edward from the town. Then she thought of what her father and mother had told her about rangers. From what she was told there wasn't much of a chance she was going to see her friend again and she certainly wouldn't be able to talk and hang out with her as they used to. _Or Justin_. She thought.

He was a ranger's apprentice now, no way he would want a relation or even talk with a simple village girl like her. _No,_ she thought again, _my father wouldn't allow it anyways._

It was true, her father didn't like the rangers, he wouldn't even let the normal boys near his daughter, let alone a ranger. He thought them dark sorcerers, most of the inhabitants of old rock still followed the old religion and it was full of such superstitions and beliefs.

She was ripped away from her gloomy thoughts when a familiar voice came from only a meter behind her. "No work today?"

She let out a shriek out of surprise and turned around to confirm her suspicions, and indeed behind her stood a widely grinning Justin.

He had pulled his cowl forward in a way that hid his eyes in shadows. But she could see a spark of amusement and excitement in them.

"I can't believe I actually sneaked up on you! " he said with a cheery voice, but Sarah didn't share in his joy, she looked terrified.

Immediately the grin disappeared from Justin's face, making place for a worried look. "What's wrong Sarah? I didn't scare you that bad did I?" he asked.

In fact, he did. She didn't want to admit it, but her father had told her to stay away from rangers and he had told storied about them that would scare even the toughest bantit. she really didn't expect Justin to sneak up on her, and it confused her that she spoke to her as if nothing had happened and that he was worried he had scared her too bad.

She couldn't say anything. she tried to look away, but his eyes drew hers in._ Those beautiful blue eyes._ No, no she couldn't think of him like that. "He's a ranger, he probably doesn't even like me." ,she kept telling herself.

But in the brief moment their eye's locked, she knew it wasn't true. She tried to ignore it, told herself again and again he didn't like her, but she knew she was lying.

She felt the urge to run away, away from the emotions that confused her so much, but she couldn't. Justin's eyes locked her in place until eventually she was able to look away

Justin didn't get it. What was going on with the cheery girl he remembered from only a month ago, but before he could ask, she ran turned around and ran away.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and sticking with this story to this point. I have some Ideas for the next chapter wich will be either about Edwards past/his mission toToscana or the twins getting horses. ****Don't forget, reviews are appreciated and help me improve my writing. I hope I did the detail better this time, I know it still isn't as good as it could be, but I'm working on it.****Thank you stormrunner for reviewing and thank you guest for reviewing again.**

**And as we say in Brabant, Houdoe!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Wow! Much views much much views. Me so happy! Thank you for reading.  
This chapter will reveal a bit more about Edward but it's mostly a filler.**

**Thank you Monique bowman and guest for reviewing.**

~Chapter 6~

Emma glanced at Edward curiously who was staring into the forest with glazy eyes. She had seen it happen before, but usually he snapped out of it after a couple of seconds.

This was different. He had been sitting on the veranda like that for over ten minutes and it was starting to worry the young apprentice.

Suddenly he went inside and came out shortly after, holding a book and some pencils she hadn't seen before and sat back down.

He opened the book and started flipping the pages. Emma saw that none of the pages had any text, just drawing. She couldn't see them very well, as he was flipping through them very fast, but he stopped when he reached an empty page.

He started drawing as if in some sort of trance and Emma just couldn't walk away, he seemed so sad and relieved at the same time. It made her wonder what was going.

Half an hour later her curiosity got the better of her, she walked over to Edward to see what he was drawing. She got to look at the drawing for only five seconds until Edward noticed her. He closed the book with a smack, stood up without saying anything and entered the cabin.

But in those five seconds she had seen enough, it was a sketch of her and her brother. They were at the archery range holding their bows, arrows nocked and ready to shoot.

* * *

She wanted to know, she had to know what the other drawings in the book were. And when Edward announced that he had to go to the castle again a week later she got a chance.

"Are you sure this is a good idea Em?" her brother asked.

She scoffed: "Of course it is Justin. I have a question though, what happened this weekend? You've been rather quiet lately."

"I just don't think it's a good idea okay, what if he finds out?", he masterfully changed the subject back.

"He won't, calm down."

He sighed: "Alright, but be quick about it!"

They opened the door to Edward's room. "Ehm Emma?"

"Yes?"

"You _do_ know where he keeps it right?"

"No, that's why I need you. Two people search faster than one."

He sighed again and started looking through drawers while his sister checked under the bed.

"Got it!", came a muffled voice from under the bed.

Emma appeared again with a leather bound book in her hands. The front of the book was weathered but you could still see vague letters saying: Edward.

They opened the book and on the first page there was some text:

_Dear Edward,_

_Happy birthday! I know you like drawing so I got you this as a present._

_I love you Ed_

_Best wishe…_

They couldn't make out who had given the book to their mentor, for the rest of the text was covered with a bloodstain.

"I really don't think we should look at this Emma!"

"Aw shut it, you pansy, I want to know", she flipped the page and continued ignoring her brother's advice.

The first drawing was of a man wearing a hood, presumably Edward's mentor. The next was of a castle they didn't recognise.

It was a thick book and only half full, but as they flicked through the pages they noticed something. A lot of the drawings in the book were of a girl, it were cheery drawings. But after a sudden point, all the sketches became sombre and darker the drawings of the girl became more frequent, some were portraits, some were landscapes with her in it, but they all had one thing in common, in every single one the girl looked as if she was blaming Ed, that or her eyes were just closed.

But those drawings stopped and slowly they became more cheery, some even had colour in them. When they reached the last sketch, Justin's and Emma's eyebrows shot up.

Emma had seen it before, but that was only for five seconds. Now that she had the time to really look at it, she noticed the pure emotion put into the drawing. The happiness, the fear of losing them, but most of all the pride.

"What in Gorlog's name are you two doing!"

They turned around to see an annoyed Edward standing by the door to his room.

The annoyance turned to anger when he saw them holding his book. _His_ book!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT!" he shouted. But when he saw their scared faces he calmed down a bit. "Put it down", he said in a dangerously calm voice to the teen holding his book.

"We're sorry Edward", they muttered at the same time. They were young, but not stupid enough to try to talk themselves out of it. They had been caught in the act.

"I told you so", Justin said under his breath.

"Oh shut it Justin", Emma whispered back.

* * *

The rest of the day Edward was very distant and cold to them, so it speaks for itself that the twins were a bit scared when he said they needed to talk.

He was staring into the fire and after a couple moments of painful silence he started to speak.

"I'm sorry that I got so angry with you, it's just that that book is very important to me."

They weren't expecting this, this wasn't an angry speech about why it's so bad what they had done. But instead they got an apology?

"I owe you an explanation." The twins were still silent. "I got that book from someone I cared greatly about, and I had it with me ever since. It is how I remember, to make sure I don't forget. Don't forget her voice, don't forget her face, don't forget the guilt.

The tears were leaving silver trails down his cheeks and he put his head in his hands.

They had never seen Edward cry, they had seen his eyes water but that was about as far as it got. Normally he didn't really show much emotion, but this was one of the rare moments he did.

He wiped his cheeks with his sleeve and stood up. "Good night", he said softly.

* * *

I don't

**I don't have much to say so... thank you for following my story so far and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Bye, or as we say in Brabant: Houdoe!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Helloooooooooo! So... school has started again today and it erased the writers block I had for this chapter. This is my try at a bit of romance.**

**Thanks so much to all the people who reviewed! I love all of you!**

**P.S I decided not to show the entire horse thing, because it would not have made for an interesting chapter the way I had written it. So I put it aside and started somethin' different from what I had planned. Instead, I have intergrated it into this chater a bit, but only a little bit. a tiny little bit. thanks to my friend for letting me use his first name. Don't worry, he's a Brony he will be completely at home.**

**Enjoy**

* * *

~Chapter 7~

After the incident with the book everything pretty much went back to normal again, the only exception being that Justin spent a lot of time in the village to pay of his debt.

This was at least, until Justin came to his mentor to ask him for help.

"Edward? " he asked a bit shyly, "Can you help me with something?"

Edward's eyebrows raised a bit when he saw the look on Justin's face. "Sure… what is it?" she said carefully.

"Do you know a lot about women?"

"I guess I know a bit, at least more than you. Shouldn't you ask stuff like that to Emma?"

"No! She would tease me until the end of times if she heard this!"

"That seems quite serious Justin. Now tell me your problem and I will see if I can be of any help."

The boy let out a sigh, "There's this girl, Sarah, a friend of Emma and mine. I tried to talk to her multiple times in the last couple of weeks, but when I approach her, she runs away. I just don't get it, we were getting along well before I was apprenticed to you. I mean, I'm still the same person aren't I?"

Edward sighed on his turn and started to speak: "Justin, she's not scared of you, she's scared of rangers. Old Rock fief mostly still follows the ways of the old religion, which is full of superstitions and people really don't like rangers here. I know Sarah's father, he and her mother have probably told her all kinds of bad stories about rangers."

"I never thought her to be so easily influenced." Justin said quietly.

"I believe she isn't, but when you get told something form birth, it usually sticks with you."

"So I don't really have a chance with her do I?" the ranger's apprentice sounded defeated.

"You do have a chance Justin, you'll just have to convince her that rangers aren't demons from hell or Nymphs or whatever she believes."

"And how do I do that?" Justin asked, now no longer thinking that didn't have a chance with the kind brown-haired girl.

But his hope was bored into the ground by Edward's next answer. "I wish I knew Justin I wish I knew."

* * *

He was looking for Sarah. He had seen her round a corner when he came out of the cobblers after a long day's work.

He ran after her but when he had rounded the corner, he was caught in a stream of people heading for the market and gave had to get home quickly anyways, for the sun was already setting and he had promised Edward he would be home before dark.

They had finally gotten their horses two days ago and he had immediately fallen in love with the small black horse and went riding every time he had some free time. The same was true for his sister and her light brown, almost with a glint of orange, coloured stallion.

His' was a mare named _Dusk_, because of her black, almost dark blue coat, while his sister rode a stallion named _Dawn_ (for obvious reasons), the horse, while born from different parents were like sister and brother. This was why keeper of ranger horses in the south of Araluen, a tall man with shoulder long dark brown, almost black hair named Fabian Scoltin had chosen them for the twins.

But when he turned to go back, he was halted by a sight he didn't quite expect.

Dusk was being petted by Sarah who stood with her back to him and he decided to go and try to talk to her.

He quietly walked up to her and it took a couple of seconds for the mesmerised Sarah to notice him standing next to her, also petting the small horse. She looked like she was going to walk away, but Justin's voice stopped her.

"Wait! Just let me talk to you for a minute. Please!" he pleaded.

She looked reluctant but agreed.

"Sarah, I get that you are afraid of rangers, but Emma and I are still the same persons inside. Whatever people say of rangers, we are not demons or sorcerers or anything like that. We're just as human as anyone else."

She nodded and sighed. "And how do you explain the rumours of bandits disappearing into the forest, never to be seen again? And how you are able to sneak up on people without a single sount, or disappear into thin air!"

The volume of her voice has raised substantially when she started about the disappearing, but that didn't deter Justin.

"Do you realise that the people that disappear are all thugs, bandits and other criminals? How are we able to sneak up to people like that? Well it comes down to practicing until you drop. The disappearing also takes a lot of practice, but in that case, we are aided by our cloaks, they are made to break up a silhouette so that we are near impossible to spot."

Sarah was taken aback by the incredibly logical explanations for everything, but still she didn't feel comfortable around the ranger, however nice and good looking he was. _ No don't think like that! Shouldn't I though? Maybe he wasn't so bad. Maybe she should give it a chance._

Suddenly Justin spoke and she was ripped away from her thoughts. "If you don't trust me, let me help you." And he took her hands in his. She looked him in the eyes and when brown met blue, all she could feel was a wave of happiness flowing through her as their faces came closer and closer together.

Until an angry shout could be heard from across the street. "SARAH WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE GODS ARE YOU DOING!"

They both broke eye contact and he quickly let go of his hands and took a step back.

"d-d-Dad… hey ehm…we-we were just-"

"I know what you were doing and I do not want you to be anywhere near that sorcerer again!" he cut her off.

"But dad-"

"No!" he cut her off again "And you ,you little ranger rat, stay away from my daughter or else!"

Justin backed off and turned around to mount his horse. He looked at Sarah one last time as she was being dragged away by her father and one more time they locked eyes before they rounded a corner and left sight.

* * *

**I hope you liked it and thank you for following this story up to this point. Please review and let me know what you thought of the chapter.**

**Bye! Or as we say in Brabant: Houdoe!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Welcome back! It's bee a while hasn't it? I'm very sorry, I had a serious case of writer's block. Again.  
Sooooo yeah... a new character will enter the story today, I think you'll know her. Enjoy the chapter.**

**P.S. Do check out TrustTheCloak's storys, they are really good funny storys about Gilan's apprenticeship. Also Moniquebowman's story; The thief of Caraway, is really good.**

**Random fact of the week: The longest time between twins being born is 87 days! Craaaaazy isn't it?**

* * *

~Chapter 8~

"Emma hurry up! We were supposed to leave an hour ago!" Edward shouted.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." A reply came. "Where are we going anyway?"

Edward sighed loudly, "I told you that three times already, we're going to the gathering."

Justin was already on Dusk's back and he seemed very eager to leave. "Will all the other rangers really be there?"

"Yes, all of them will be there for the fifth time!" the bearded ranger said, thinking why again he had thought it a good idea to take two apprentices again.

Finally Emma had saddled and mounted Dawn and they could go on the five day long journey to the gathering grounds.

Normally, if one were to ride directly towards it, it would only take three days, but they had to take a bit of a detour because he and an old friend of him had arranged to meet up and continue together.

* * *

=_three days later=_

The three companions finally made it to the crossroad and after fifteen minutes of waiting they heard a whinny to which Dawn, Dusk and Shade instantly replied.

Not long after, a white and black mottled horse came into view. Riding this horse was a twenty-five year old woman with long blonde hair.

She waved her hand in greeting and Edward, already dismounted, waved back and walked towards her.

"Ed! Long time no see, how've you been?" The woman said while dismounting and extended her hand.

Edward grabbed her hand and pulled her into an embrace, "Indeed it has been long Maddie, indeed it has."

Emma and Justin were taken aback by Edward's openness towards the woman who was apparently called Maddie.

Maddie shot a quizzical look at the two teens that were standing a couple of meters away from her and Edward, thre was something about them. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. Edward looked at her and then at the two teens. "Maddie, I would like to introduce you to my apprentices , Justin and Emma Metford. Justin, Emma, this is Madelyn Altman, crownpricess of the realm, part-time ranger and one of my closest friends."

Neither the twins nor Maddie said anything, until the blonde woman finally sent a shocked look towards her friend. "You took an apprentice?! Scrap that, two apprentices?! Why didn't you tell me!"

"Because," Edward said calmly ", I wanted to surprise you. And apparently it worked."

"Wait, You're the crown princess?!", Emma and Justin shouted after they got over the shock.

"No, I'm the other Madelyn Altman. Of course I am. Got a problem with that?" she replied sarcastically.

"N-no, o-of course not." Emma answered.

"Well, now introductions are out of the way, shall we proceed to the gathering?" Edward said with the slightest hint of amusement in his voice.

* * *

When they stopped that evening, Edward had built a fire and made some coffee while Maddie started preparations for their evening meal and that evening, they ate one of the best meals in their lives.

"I didn't know princesses could cook. And so good!" Emma stated.

"You learn a lot when apprenticed to Will Treaty, one of them is cooking. Some say he's the best cook in the corps."

"You were Will Treaty's apprentice?" Emma asked with newfound appreciation for their travelling companion.

"Yes, I was apprenticed the same year Eddie here was."

"Don't call me that." A gruff voice came from the other side of the campfire.

"You're no fun Eddie, loosen up a bit!" Maddie replied.

"I'm loose enough."

Maddie just rolled her eyes and looked at Justin, who was sitting against a fallen down tree and kept silent. "What's with your brother? He hasn't said much the last couple of hours."

"I'm right here you know." He said.

Maddie ignored him and continued talking to Emma. "He ís your brother right?"

"Yes, we're twins." Emma answered.

Madelyn's eyed widened. "Of course that's it! I should have known."

Edward raised an eyebrow at her and she stuck her tongue out in a very un-princess liker manner.

"But really what's up with him?"

"He's in love with a girl in the village." Emma said. If glares could kill, she would have been dead in an instant. Sadly for Justin, they don't, for his sister and Maddie kept gossiping.

"And what's the problem with that?" the princess asked.

"Her father hates rangers and won't let her even come close to him."

The girls looked over to where justin was sitting and found that he had left. "Good job you two, I'll go find him." Edward stood up and walked towards where Justin had entered the forest. "And think about what you've done." He said as if he was talking to children.

* * *

He found Justin throwing rocks into a small pond, trying to make them bounce. Edward picked up a stone and threw it in the lake, making it bounce three times before it finally sank.

Justin looked at him with watering eyes.

"Nothing ever goes my way, does it?"

"C'mon Justin, don't talk like that. Sarah likes you, I can see it in her eyes. You can't just give up like that."

"It's hopeless, her father won't let me near her. Just when I got her to open up a bit I can't even see her anymore!"

Justin, listen to me. You are a ranger's apprentice, you'll find a way, don't worry. Now will you come back to camp? The coffee is getting cold.

* * *

** Thanks for reading the story to this point, imput/constructive criticism is very much appreciated. The names Chelez and Ibdeles are not mine by the way, I have taken those from the awesome game; Mount and Blade Warband.**

**Bye! or as we say in Brabant: Houdoe!**


	9. Chapter 9

** Wow, I just realised something. This chapter will put double or nothing into 11k words! Thank all of you for reading this story, it means alot to me that you took time out of your day (or night, depends on when you're reading it) to read my story. Thankyouthankyouthankyou you.**

**now on to some other stuff; Maddie and Edward are not and will not be a couple, for now atleast. I might just change that. also There are apparently alot of people in the U.S.A. that read my story. I don't know why, but still thank you 'muricans.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

~Chapter 9~

A singular rider on a rough haired grey pony rode through the calm forest. His cowl shielded his face from the sun that was shining through the gaps in the canopy that hung above the trail. His bow was in front of him on the saddle and twenty-four grey arrows were stored in his quiver.

The pony let out a nicker, instantly the man's eyes scanned his surroundings. He saw something up in a tree. It was only a small movement, but large enough for the man's trained eyes to see it.

"Maddie, Edward, you can come out now. And get that poor apprentice out of that tree." He called out.

"That went well." A feminine voice came from behind a tree trunk with a sarcastic tone and Maddie stepped out from her cover.

The same happened on his other side as Edward to emerged from his hiding spot. "I thought we finally had you this time."

The sound of leaves and tree branches cracking followed by a loud thump told the man what happened with the apprentice. A girl with dirty blond hair and dark blue eyes wearing a rangers uniform and holding a recurve bow slowly stood up with a slight moan.

The man looked over to Edward. Was he… no way! Edward was grinning.

"Will, may I introduce you to Emma Metford, my apprentice. Emma this is Will Treaty."

Emma's eyes widened and she turned slightly red. She had just fallen out of a tree in front of _the_ Will Treaty, the most famous ranger in all of Araluen!

Before she could say anything, will turned around in the saddle, nocked an arrow, drew back and fired. This was followed by thud and a yelp as the arrow found its mark.

Justin looked at his sleeve with wide eyes. A grey shafted arrow had pinned him to a tree.

"Care to tell me who that is? Edward? Maddie?" Will said as he looked at the two young rangers. "I already thought this ambush of yours was a bit sloppy, I should have expected this." He said with an accusing voice. "You never told me you had an apprentice Maddie."

"Because I don't." she said simply.

Wills eyebrows narrowed, "Care to explain why you have two apprentices with you then?"

"They're mine." Edward said in the same nonchalant voice Maddie had used.

"Some help would be nice!" came Justin's voice from where he was pinned to the tree, trying to get the arrow out.

Edward walked over to him and pulled the arrow out.

"Justin walked over to Emma and stood next to her. Will raised his eyebrows. "Are they family?"

"Twins." They answered at exactly the same time, causing Will to raise his eyebrows even further.

He turned his attention back to Edward, but instead of doing what the younger ranger expected him to do, which was asking a lot of questions, he said: "If there is anyone up to the task, it's you Ed."

"We have a lot of catching up to do! Shall we continue to the gathering?" will said as he mounted tug.

* * *

The gathering grounds was full of activity. Rangers were setting up tents, practising archery, knife throwing, hand-to-hand combat , etcetera, etcetera.

Shouts and laughter could be heard as old friends met and made fun of each other. As they walked through the mess of tents, people greeted and shouted welcomes at the five newly arrived rangers.

They made it to their camping spot and started unpacking. Once they had set up their tents and Maddie had lit a fire, they sat down and waited on the coffee to be done.

They were interrupted by a clean shaven tall man with reddish brown hair. "Surrounding yourself with young people doesn't make you young, you know that right?" He said to will, who didn't even look to see who said it.

"You know I'm younger than you, right Gilan?" he replied

"Age is wisdom."

"In your case it apparently isn't. Do you know if Halt's still coming?"

"Last I heard, yes. Although he might be a little held up, Pauline wanted to redecorate their apartment" Gilan answered, earning a chuckle from Will, Maddie and Edward.

Gilan looked over to where Emma and Justin were sitting. "These two must be Emma and Justin. Nice to meet you, my name is Gilan, I am the ranger commandant."

* * *

Emma was training in unarmed fighting with one of the third year apprentices, a boy called Mandel with curly red hair and a face full of freckles.

They were both panting, she more than him, for he was older and had better endurance. The fight had been going on for about five minutes, she had only barely been able to stand her ground against an opponent who was not only more experienced, but also stronger.

They started circling each other again, both waiting to see what the other would do. Mandel charged at her, she sidestepped but Mandel had been expecting that and changed dirction at the last second. He threw a punch at Emma's stomach, but she blocked it with great effort. She tried to hit Mandel in the face, but het grabbed her arm and twisted it around, forcing her to twist with it. A second later she was on the ground, Mandel still holding her arm.

"Give…up?" he asked, still heavily panting.

"I…Give…up." Emma answered, trying to suck breath into her lungs.

When they were both back on their feet, Mandel congratulated her with how long she lasted and walked off to find his mentor.

She didn't have any training or tests left that day, so she decided she would go talk to Maddie. She had a couple of questions about Edward and she really wanted to hear about him from one of his closest friends.

She found her carrying a pile of firewood to their campsite. Emma noticed that Maddie was limping a bit, she would have to ask about that later.

"Hey Maddie. Need help with that?"

"Yes, that would be nice." Emma took half of the wood and they proceeded on towards their tents.

Once they had put the wood down, Emma started asking her Questions. "How did you get that limp?"

"I got hit with a javelin on my first mission with Will."

"Oh, does it still hurt?"

"No, but thank you for your concern." She looked at Emma, who was clearly doing her best to keep herself from asking all her questions at once. "Did you have more questions?"

"How was it like being Will's apprentice?"

After having told Emma about her own apprenticeship, including the part where she was disinherited, but not including the part where she had gotten drunk with a couple of kids from the town.

She told Emma of her adventures with Will, the long days of training, the friends she had made and lost and how she met Edward.

Apparently, Edward used to be very cheery and energetic. Maddie told the apprentice of how they had pranked various people, including the elusive Halt. That prank however well thought through, successful and funny, had caused them to end up in the moat of castle Araluen. Twice.

"What happened to Edward? And why does he care so much about that sketch book of his?" Emma asked and immediately Maddie's expression darkened.

"It's not really my place to tell you, but I can tell you this; Edward lost someone very dear to him and that he got that book from her on his seventeenth birthday. He never really recovered, a similar thing happened to will when his wife died. They didn't react the same entirely though. Will obsessed himself with finding his wife's murderers, Ed on the other hand threw himself on his work, he didn't talk to anyone unless absolutely necessary for about a year."

"What made Will better? He seems fine."

A small smile appeared on Madelyn's lips. "He got an apprentice." And with that she stood up and walked away.

* * *

**Thank you for reading, it means alot to me. Don't forget to give me your opininions and suggestions by reviewing. (No pressure)**

**Bye! or as I can't pronounce: Nos vemos la próxima vez!**


	10. Chapter 10

** Whoooooo! Over 500 hits! Thats like... even more than 400! Thank you all for reading and reviewing, it makes my day!**

**on a more serious note though, I'm not really sure what to think of this chapter, I like some parts more than others.**

**After this one there will be one more chapter of gathering stuff. I highly recommand listening to the music on _The Prime Cornus_ on YouTube when writing something epic/emotional (Or basically anyting that needs inspiration).  
Enjoy!**

* * *

~Chapter 10~

Her hands were is his. She looked at him with tired eyes, there was no blame, panic or anger in them. No. This time, they were filled with peace. He looked down and saw blood flowing from a large wound in her stomach. "It- It's not your fault Ed, don't blame yourself. She smiled one last time and then, her eyes closed.

Edward awoke with a gasp, drenched in sweat. He couldn't control himself and tears started running down his cheeks. It seemed so real.

She told him it wasn't his fault. She never did that in his dreams. She blamed him in them, she didn't try to make him feel better.

He quickly wiped away the tears and stood up from his sitting position at the base of a tree.

His hand went to his collar, making sure that the oak leaves were still around it. The cold feel of two silver leaves calmed him down a bit.

When he looked up again he saw Maddie standing in front of him. "Having nightmares again?" she asked with an understanding tone in her voice.

He nodded and sighed heavily. "This was different though."

She frowned. "Different? In what way different?"

"She- she didn't blame me." He looked at Maddie with tears in his eyes. If it were tears of joy, relief or sadness, she didn't know. She guessed it was probably all of them.

The ranger-princess put her arm around Edward. "You need to tell them."

"I know Maddie, but I don't know how."

"You'll find a way Eddie, you always do."

* * *

Emma looked down at the map in front of her and then at her brother, who was bent over his own map. "What's wrong with you?"

He looked confused. "What do you mean sis?"

"How can you actually be interested in geography?"

He chuckled, "Don't you think it's useful to know the way around the kingdom if you're a ranger?"

"Useful, yes. Fun, no"

He rolled his eyes at his sister's behaviour. "Well, you'll still be tested on it, so I would put some effort into it if I were you."

"Luckily you aren't me then."

Just then they were interrupted by one of the rangers who came to say that they could stop for the rest of the day. Not that there was much day left.

"Em, I'm going to get some dinner. Shall I get you some too?"

"Nah, I already have plans."

"Do these 'plans' perhaps involve Neill?" he smirked, he had set his trap. Finally he would get his revenge.

"No!" she said a little bit too fast, only causing Justin's smirk to grow wider.

"You sure? You're turning a little pink."

She felt the heat rise from her neck to her cheeks. "So what if they do? It's none of your business anyway."

"Like hell it is! As your older brother, I have the task to keep you away from guys that try to go out with you." he said with a very serious voice and crossing his arms.

"Oh Shut it Justin." She said, now getting annoyed at her brother's behaviour. "And you're only seven minutes older anyway."

"Seven minutes _older_." He repeated.

Emma knew that her face was probably bright red by now, and with that knowledge she decided it was best to leave her idiot of a brother.

but as she turned around, she walked into an old ranger with a scruffy white beard tht looked like he cut it with his saxe. She quickly apologised. The ranger silently accepted her apology and walked off, grumbling some very colourful words, half of which the twins didn't even know existed.

While Justin was distracted she quickly sneaked away. She did in fact have plans with Neil.

Neill was actually not from Araluen, he was a Scotti. Well… not really, he had left Picta when he was ten years old and ended up working chores for farmers and craftsmen until he was fifteen and was taken in by a ranger.

The very same ranger that had trained Edward was now his mentor. He had seen Edward and his former mentor talk and when Neil was there with him and her mentor didn't seem keen on his former mentor's new apprentice.

She knew that his parents were killed by Scotti raiders, but she thought he was overreacting. Neil was not like that, he was kind and smart and funny and…

Her train of thoughts was cut off by a voice with a slight accent. "Oi Emma! How are you?"

"Neill, hey"

Neill smiled. "Nervous?"

She mock glared at him. "Shut it Neill."

"Whoa! Why the violence?"

Emma sat down next to him, leaning slightly against his shoulder. "I think Justin is on to us."

He chuckled. "I didn't realise we were hiding it. I'm not that bad, am I?"

"No, but he'll probably take his revenge for how I teased him with Sarah."

He put his left arm around her, but their moment was interrupted by Edward walking onto the clearing.

He stopped dead in his tracks. He raised an eyebrow at Emma and slowly turned around. What Emma didn't see however was that a small sad smile formed on his lips.

* * *

When Edward entered their camping spot he was greeted by laughter.

Sitting around the fire were three rangers, two he saw, were Maddie and Will. The third was an old man with roughly cut white hair and beard, looking rather annoyed at the other two.

"So… Halt, how did redecorating your apartment go?" Edward said in a very serious voice.

Maddie burst out into laughter, trying to mask it as a cough but failing miserably, which earned her a glare from Halt.

"I don't get why you would want to change something that is perfectly fine the way it is." Halt stated.

Will answered; "Well, with all of that free time you have now, you have to do something to pass the time, right guys." Maddie and Edward both nodded, putting the most serious look on their faces that they could muster.

"Traitors" Halt mumbled.

* * *

**Thank you very much for following DoN to this point! You deserve a Cookie! **

**Bye! Or as they say in Russia: До свидания!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm back! I'm soooo sorry it's been so long. I had a writer's block the size of the great wall of china.**

**Now, you may remember I told you that Edward and Maddie will not yet be a couple. Well guess what, "yet" has finally come. **

**But ehm... right, this chapter is the last of gathering stuff 'n fluff. Be prepared to be AMAZED! but not this chapter, the next one will probably have action and fighting and epic battles and explosions and- *gets hit on the back of the head***

**Stranger: Alright Gustah, you were getting a bit carried away there.**

**Me: Alright sorr- wait who the #$% are you?!**

**Stranger: *laughs evilly and dissapears***

**Me: Alriiiiiight, that was strange. But anyways, enjoy this chapter of DoN peeps!**

* * *

~Chapter 11~

_Going back to the cabin in the trees, _

_going back to the creek beneath the hill. _

_There's a girl used to live there when I left, _

_but I doubt she'll be waiting for me still. _

Most of the rangers were quiet, all thinking of what had been or what could have been. Emma could see many men and women with tears in their eyes. Even Will, who had been the one to sing, wiped away a couple of tears.

But as he started a more cheerful tune, the sad mood lifted and the other rangers started clapping and stomping their feet. Some even sang along.

When the song ended Will spoke with the same silver tongue as all jongleurs have. "Ladies and gentlemen, the next song, I picked up from a traveling merchant who says he's seen the world and more." And he started playing

_Crack open the barrels of ale and mead!  
Drink like a dragon at a dwarven feast!  
Raise your cups, stamp your feet!  
flail your flagons around!_

Several of the rangers stood up from the table they had been seated at and started dancing. Emma felt a hand on her shoulder and looked behind her to see who it was. It was Neill and he obviously wanted to dance with her. So she stood up and they started dancing to Will's music.

_Grab a girl by the hand,  
Dance 'round the fires blazing bright!  
And when the dawn comes over the horizon,  
The morning birds will sing!  
The morning birds will sing!_

Justin looked at his dancing sister with a smile, thinking of Sarah.

An idea started to form in his head, an idea that was so simple that it had to work.

He looked to where Edward had been seated and found his spot empty, so he started to look around the clearing and when he did find his mentor, his eyes practically doubled in width.

He was _dancing_! And with _Maddie_ none the less!

And as the music stopped, everyone went back to their own respective seats. Emma noted however that Ed and Maddie sat ever so slightly closer together.

_I'll have to keep an eye on those two._ She thought, before Neill put an arm around her and she put her head on his shoulder.

_This night is perfect. _She thought.

* * *

When the feast came to an end and everybody started to go back to their tents for one last night on the gathering grounds, Emma and Justin were sitting by the small fire at their camping spot.

Edward, Maddie, Will and even Halt sat silently around it as well. Maddie was the first to speak. "Ed, you should tell them."

Edward sighed and looked at Maddie with an expression that both Halt and Will hadn't seen on him for a long time.

Will smirked at Maddie and Edward, knowing exactly what that look was.

The twins, however were still wondering what their mentor hadn't told them. Emma looked at their him with a look of anticipation.

But when Edward spoke, it was in a very sad tone. His hand went to his collar, from where he pulled out a chain with two oak leaved attached to it and stared at it with glazy eyes.

A small nudge from Maddie snapped him out of it and he started talking slowly, as if it took a lot of effort to tell what he was about to tell the twins.

"This used to belong to Ranger Ann Hawton. She was one of my best friends, even more than a friend, we loved each other. We went on a lot of missions together, one of those was to escort an emissary to Toscana. It went well, the sea was calm and the ride to our destination was uneventful. But we discovered something and went to investigate, we caught some slave traders, locked them up and started the journey back."

Edward sighed. "It was one of the biggest mistakes we made. They- they ambushed our convoy when we were travelling back to the harbor. Apparently the people we locked up had some friends and wanted revenge."

"Ann, she- she…" Edward started to shake, to which Madelyn put an arm around his shoulders.

"She- we were cut off from each other. The last thing I saw of her was when someone pushed her off the side of the cliff."

The tears were now clearly visible in the corners of his eyes. "I searched for her for days, but the only thing I found was… her oak leaf."

His grip tightened around the silver pendants and he started to sob.

_She must have really meant a lot to him, to make him break down like this._ Justin thought and glanced at his sister who, he saw, was wiping away a few of her own tears.

Maddie squeezed Ed's shoulder and he started to speak once again.

"I never told anyone, but I was going to ask her to marry me after that mission." Maddie, Halt and Will all looked at the sad ranger with surprise."

"Losing her devastated me, I didn't think I could live without her. So I threw myself at the one thing that didn't constantly remember me of her, my work. I didn't talk to anyone unless necessary and," to this he put his head down in shame, not able to look his apprentices, or Halt and Will for that matter, in the eyes. "I- I started drinking." To that both the older ranger's eyebrows shot up and Will was the first to speak.

"Why didn't you tell us Ed? We could have helped you."

"No you couldn't Will." Edward snapped.

Will looked a little confused by the younger ranger's sudden outburst.

"I hid it, you know. I was ashamed of myself, and it would have continued if it weren't for Maddie stopping by unannounced to check on me. I haven't had a drop of alcohol since."

Halt looked at Maddie with an inquisitive look. Maddie slowly nodded to confirm Ed's statement of not drinking since she had found him drunk.

Then Emma started speaking. "Ed, don't be…"

"…ashamed of yourself,…" Justin continued.

"…you are a…"

"…great mentor and…"

"…a great person."

Hearing them speak like that, as if they were one person, brought back the memories of their training and the corners of his mouth twitched up a bit.

* * *

But unseen to everybody, a form stood at the edge of the clearing. It watched the small group sitting around the campfire.

It slowly took a white and black feathered arrow from the quiver slung over its back, nocked aimed and drew back, but as one of the female rangers put an arm around the man next to her, it lowered its bow.

_Not now._ It thought and faded back into the shadows of the forest

**Hoped you liked the look int Eddie's life and thanks for staying with this story to this point! You are amazing!**

**If you liked it, review and tell a friend. if you disliked it, tell me why and what I could improve (You don't have to tell a friend if you choose the second option)**

**P.S. For all of you waiting for the next chapter of Scoped, don't dispair. I was hit with a wave of inspiration, all that is left is to make it into a worthy chapter.**

**Bye! Or as they say in Iceland: Bless!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Welcome back! It's been a while hasn't it? I'm very sorry, but the hollidays caused a massive influx of lazieness in my body and mind. I've written half of another chapter of _Scoped_ and I'm working on a crossover between Halo and Star Wars. (I've written three chapters, but I still have some tweaking to do before I upload the first chapter). I was in Lisbon by the way and I didn't have my laptop to write. I did however, take notes and wrote down a short version on paper on the flight back.**

**are you ready for the most actiony action chapter in your life? Well I'm sorry, this isn't it. It is merely a leap to the action, but if you want to you can imagine gunfire and explosions everywhere.**

**Also; I'm in need for a Beta reader, contact me if you're interested.**

**Stranger: *Hits Gustah on the head.***

**me: DUDE! WHY DOYOU KEEP HITTNIG ME!?**

**Stranger: Stop rambling!**

**Me: Ok,Ok, I'll shut up.**

* * *

~Chapter 12~

_= 3 weeks later =_

Justin very slowly opened the door that separated his room to the main room of the cabin, being careful not to let it scrape on the floor. He looked around the cabin to see if it was clear and when he saw it was he stepped out of his room, avoiding the planks that were made to deliberately make noise when you stepped on them.

He was already fully clothed in his forest-green tunic and brown leather pants and grabbed his cloak and quiver that were hung on a hook next to the door. He checked his knives, both those in his double scabbard ad those hidden in his boots. He took his recurve bow and decided he was ready.

He lifted the front door slightly to avoid noise and stepped into cold night. He went over to the stables but halfway there he decided against taking Dusk with him and set off to his destination, unaware of a pair of golden-brown eyes watching his every move from the tree line.

* * *

His destination was a secluded glade with a small stream flowing through it with a tall white birch tree in the middle. Autumn had set in and the ground around the great white giant was littered with a blanket of orange and brown leaves while the full moon shone through the baring branches.

He shivered when a gust of wind blew over the clearing, it wouldn't be too long until winter would come.

He looked up when he heard a sound and a figure wrapped in a thick dark grey cloak walked into the moonlight, looking around as if looking for someone.

He stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight as well. He pulled back his cowl and dropped his bow.

"Justin!" she squealed in delight and ran at the young apprentice, embracing him in a hug.

Justin hugged back and they stood like that for a couple of seconds, enjoying each other's presence.

The night after they had returned from the gathering he had snuck into the town and had left a note saying to meet him here and they had since done that twice, it was the only way they could see each other without Sarah's father interfering.

When they broke the embrace he could see her shiver a bit in the cold October wind and he put an arm around her again. She leaned her head on his shoulder and they sat down against the tree in the centre of the clearing and in that position they fell asleep.

* * *

He awoke to a shriek. _Sarah!_ He thought immediately. His eyes flew open and he tried to stand up, but was knocked down before he even got the chance.

A man wearing a dark green cloak pushed what looked. like a saxe against his throat and he saw a woman standing a few feet left of the man wearing the same type of clothes. He looked over at Sarah, only to see her unconscious.

"Looks like we found us a ranger and his girlfriend. You know they are quite rare to find in the wild this time of the year." The man chuckled at his own joke and Justin glared daggers at him.

The woman holding Sarah remained serious, "Stop joking around Winter, we have to decide what to do with these _lovebirds_." Golden-brown eyes seemed to pierce straight into his mind and she spoke again, If I were you I would take those knives from his boots too, they might be dangerous.

Justin cursed in his mouth at the discovery of the concealed weapons as the man, named Winter apparently, took them and threw the a distance away, out of Justin's reach.

Winter spoke, "so what do we do with 'em Autumn?"

"tie them up, the apprentice could become a good source of information."

"The girl to?"

"Yes, we can use her as a sort of… motivation to make sure the boy doesn't run off."

"Whatever you say Autumn." And the one that was named Winter quickly hit Justin on the temple and all went black.

* * *

"Justin wake up!" Edward shouted while knocking on his door. He furrowed his brows when no reply came so he grabbed a bucket and went outside.

After filling the large wooden bucket with ice-cold water from the barrel outside, he opened the door to Justin's room and stopped dead in his track. The bed was empty.

He looked at the hook by the front door and noticed a missing cloak, quiver and bow. He cursed within his mouth.

Just that moment Emma stepped out of her room and noticed the bucket in Edward's hands. A large grin spread on her face but disappeared when she saw the expression on her mentor's face. "Ed, what's wrong?"

"Grab your stuff and saddle Dawn, Justin went out tonight it seems. I thought he would have been back by now."

"You knew he went out?" Emma asked.

"Yes, I also know where he went, he has done this twice before already, but he was always back in the morning."

"Why did he leave then?" Emma shot him an inquisitive look.

"Sarah." Was Ed's simple remark.

"I knew it! He was way too giddy the last weeks. Wait how do you know that?"

"I followed him the first time. Now if you will please saddle Dawn, I don't have a good feeling about this."

* * *

Emma followed her master to the clearing and looked around. It was a really beautiful place and she understood why her brother had picked it to meet with Sarah.

It was clear by the disrupted carpet of leaves on the ground that someone had walked there recently and it seemed someone had tried to wipe the tracks away.

Edward followed the tracks until they met up in the middle of the glade and continued to the tree in the middle. It seemed like they had sat down there and later walked away.

Something was not right though. He couldn't determine what it was, it was more a gut feeling than anything.

And then it dawned on him, the tracks weren't leading to either the village or the cabin. Unless they had taken a route in the complete opposite direction, which was very unlikely.

"Ed! I found something!" Emma yelled while standing back up from her crouched position.

She held up a knife which Edward instantly recognised as one of Justin's boot-knives.

"Emma head to the castle and alert Baron Tulling that I am going after Justin, after that you must go to the cabin and wait until I return. Also you should tell Sarah's father." Edward said sternly.

But Emma was not having any of it. "No."

"No?"

"No, I'm coming with you. If my brother and friend are in danger, I will _not _sit idly by, I'm coming with you."

"Emma-"

She cut him off. "I'm coming with you, _period_."

"Fine then," Edward said begrudgingly. "but we will need to go to the cabin anyways to pick up spare arrows and other supplies."

Emma let out a sigh of relief, in all honesty she didn't think Edward would actually let her come along.

_Of course he let you come with him_.

"And naturally you knew all along?" she whispered back at her horse.

_Yes, us ranger horses are usually cleverer than our riders._

She rolled her eyes and was about to retort but realised she would never get the last word with him and gave up.

* * *

**Sooooo... review? Hmm? Tell me if you liked it or not and help me improve my writing! **

**I hope you enjoyed. **

**bye! Or as they say at EA: We screwed you over and you can't do anything about it. Now leave this building.**


	13. Chapter 13

**[IMPORTANT]**

**Hear ye, Hear ye, the 13****th**** instalment of the tale of Double or Nothing has been released! I am truly sorry that it took so incredibly long, it has been 2 months! It's just that… I dunno, I guess the inspiration just dried up or somethin', 'cause I just couldn't get this chapter right. The original plan was to make this chapter around 2000 words long. I've been doing this with Phantom Pain and it's going well, this one isn't. I rewrote this like 7 times and I'm still not completely satisfied with it. So, I have made up a plan: **

**I will not abandon this story, that would be akin to throwing (If I had one) my firstborn off a cliff and I won't do that. I will be rewriting this, hopefully with less grammatical errors, better sentences and longer chapters. I will then post this rewritten version once I am back at the point where I last left off. (this chapter) I hope you can understand and please tell me if you think I should have done something different in this story, now's your chance.**

* * *

~Chapter 13~

_I sat next to a boy my age, around seventeen years old. The wind blew through the branches of the tree they were in and I shivered. "How are you not cold?" I asked._

"_The north is a lot colder than this, I actually like how warm it is here." He answered while chuckling._

"_I can't wait until spring starts again, I've had enough of the snow." I said longingly._

"_Yeah, It would be nice to see the ground again." He chuckled again, "Although that won't happen until high summer in Norgate."_

"_I really wouldn't want to live there, I like the warmth too much." I looked over to him but could not see his face. "What's your favourite season?"_

"_My favourite season?" _

_I nodded, "Yes, as in winter, autumn, spring or summer."_

"_Autumn." He looked around, "The leaves take the most beautiful colours and create a carpet of browns, oranges and reds on the ground. There is one good thing about snow though."_

"_What is it then, I fail to see any."_

"_It softens your fall." my eyes widened and I quickly grabbed his arm just before he pushed me off the branch, taking him with me. I could hear laughter from the boy and started laughing myself while I sat up. I saw him brush the snow off his brown tunic and did the same._

_Suddenly I was picked up and started to laugh even harder while screaming to let me go if he didn't want to be woken up with a bucket of ice water the next morning and he quickly dropped me as if I was made of smouldering hot coals and he had burnt his hands. Once I was back on her feet I embraced him and he did the same back. Our lips almost met, but just before that could happen,_

* * *

Autumn woke up from the dream she had had almost every night. She didn't know where it came from, she didn't know who the boy was, but she had the feeling it wasn't just a dream. No she was almost certain it was some sort of memory. How she got the memory, she didn't know. She couldn't recall any of them when she wasn't dreaming, in fact, she didn't really remember all that much about her past. A few memories of her parents, how her master had found her when she was seven years old and had taken her in.

Her master was a kind old man, he had told her, her 'brothers' Winter and Summer and her 'Sister' Spring how he had been a ranger once. They had betrayed him and had taken all that was dear to him; his wife, his son, _his home_. It made her angry at the damned Ranger Corps that they would betray him like that and she and Winter had been sent to spy on the gathering and follow a ranger with an apprentice.

She had wanted to shoot one of them, a man sitting by the fire with his companions and apprentices. She had nocked a white and black feathered arrow, drew back and aimed. But she couldn't do it, not only would she probably not get away with shooting a ranger at a gathering where fifty of some of the deadliest individuals in the country were present. Fifty men and women that were easily on par and in most cases even better than her in tracking, shooting and hiding.

But that was not the only reason she hadn't shot him; there was something… off about him, something didn't _feel_ right. She had no problem with killing, she had killed plenty of bandits her master had told them to ambush and kill as practice, but he had stirred something inside of her. A long gone memory perhaps, or a forgotten childhood friend. She decided she wouldn't hesitate to kill him next time she saw him, she couldn't show weakness in front of the others.

Autumn turned around on her mat and peaked at their two prisoners. They were cuddled against each other, the boy had used his cloak to shield the shivering girl from the creeping cold. She didn't really care what happened to the two 'lovebirds', but the boy was an apprentice and could be a huge source of information and his love for the girl would keep him from escaping.

The darkness of night still dominated the sky and there were still a few hours till Winter would come to wake her up for her shift so she decided to drop those idle thoughts and get some more sleep.

* * *

"Ed, Ed wake up!"

Edward was on his feet in seconds, both his saxe and throwing knife drawn. "What is it! Are we being attacked?" he then noticed the look of shock on the girl half of the twins' face. "By Gorlog's fangs Emma!" he lowered his knives, but his face was stern and stone cold. "What is it." He snapped at her. The Ranger was tired and stressed from traveling with minimal rest for two days.

"Y-you were having a nightmare and were thrashing, I tried to ignore it, but it just got worse so I- I woke you up." She looked a bit ashamed of herself, "I'm sorry, I'm j- just- I just want to find Justin and Sarah" tears now started to form in the corners of her eyes and Edward immediately calmed down. He sat back down and motioned to Emma that it was alright. He looked at the sky to see that the moon had already finished three quarters of its journey through the sky.

He had indeed had a nightmare and Emma did save him from watching Ann die again. He glanced at the blonde girl next to him. She remembered him of her, of Ann, with her long dirty-blond locks and the usual know-it-all smirk that was now absent on her face. _Well, since I'm up anyways, we better continue._ He stood up and ran his hand through his short dark brown hair, "We better get going again, we could gain some ground that way."

Emma just nodded and got up as well. They mounted Shade and Dawn and spurred them up the trail they were following. These people were obviously professionals, but they couldn't top a ranger who's specialty was tracking and could pick up on even the smallest hints, even in the dark of night.

Dusk followed the tow rangers loyally, but she got more nervous the further they came. She started to whinny quietly, huff in frustration of the current speed they were travelling at and nickering in anticipation.

"North-west."

"What?" Emma asked confused.

"They are heading north-west." She still looked confused. "What would be the best place to hide if you were to kidnap a ranger." He asked, taking the opportunity to test his apprentice.

"Ehhhm… Well, it would have to be close by, but far enough away so that they could lose any people that are following them." She said hesitantly. "I guess it would have to be away from people as well, maybe in a forest, or a cave?"

"Or, a ruin." He added and her dark blue eyes shone as realisation dawned.

"Gorlan."

"That is what I thought. It is only two fiefs away, far enough from Old Rock and completely abandoned. The ideal hideout."

"so we know where they are going, what now?"

"Now, we go talk to the baron of Weston and tell him to send a message to the other barons in the surrounding area to send out patrols. They probably won't catch them, but it should slow them down, enabling us to catch up to them before they reach their friends." He said as he pushed his heels into Shadow's flank which hastened his steady trot into a neck breaking gallop, leaving Emma behind him until she gathered herself and caught up with him.

* * *

**Thank you for reading.**

**Bye, or as they used to say in rome: vale.**

**Until next time, Mac Gustah**


End file.
